What Happens In

What Happens in Minnesota

Five women sat at a bar inside of the airport. "Okay, ladies, a toast," Callie said. She held up her glass and the other surgeons did the same thing. "To Minnesota!"

"To Minnesota!" The other women repeated.

Arizona spoke up: "And let's remember, what happens in Minnesota..."

"Stays in Minnesota," Maggie finished. They all laughed.

"Um, there will not be anything happening in Minnesota for me except this conference," Miranda said. She was the Chief of Surgery and along with some of the heads of several of her departments, she was waiting in the airport for their flight to a surgical convention three states away.

"Boo!" Maggie said throwing a peanut at her friend. April watched with a smile on her face.

"Hey! Hey! I am a married woman. The only godly woman of this bunch."

Callie rolled her eyes at her best friend. "And you're the only godly one in your marriage," she whispered.

"Don't start," Miranda told her friend.

"I have a right to be angry, as do you. I wish you would get angry."

Miranda gritted her teeth. "I will react the way I feel comfortable."

On the plane, Miranda and Callie sat next to each other. Any other time Miranda would have enjoyed it, but this time, she wished they were sitting separately. "It's been a month since you found out, Miranda. You should—"

"Damn it, girl. I'm still processing. He's... he's my husband, okay? What do you want me to do? Throw it all away?"

Callie raised her chin. "I suppose not, but I just want you to be happy."

"I am happy," Miranda said. She wondered if her friend had caught her lie. She wasn't happy. She hadn't been for some time, but she didn't know if she wanted to give up nearly fifteen years of marriage to Tucker Jones. He was her first love, the only man to grab her heart. She'd recently found out that he'd been cheating on her and while she was trying to take the news in stride, inside she was spiraling. She gave her friend a smile to distract her.

"Okay," Callie said.

A few hours later, they were off of the plane and checking into their respective hotel rooms. At dinner, Callie proposed another toast: "This is the first time we're all away on a 'business trip' together." The ladies laughed, rocking their booth.

"Hey! Hey now! We are here for business," Miranda told them. She looked around the table.

"Yes, but like we said before, 'what happens in Minnesota, stays here'. And I haven't been happened in a long time," April said taking a long swig of her beer.

Her best friend, Arizona, cracked up. "Same here." Maggie and Callie nodded sympathetically.

They all looked at Miranda. She pushed back her hair. "I'm not saying I haven't and I'm not saying I have."

"She hasn't," Callie admitted for her. Three of the other women cracked up.

"So what are we saying?" Maggie asked.

"Yeah," April said. "Because I'm trying to have a good time."

"We're here for work," Miranda warned.

"That's why the conferences stop at six o'clock so we can let loose and have a good time," Arizona countered. The women continued to eat and drink. "How about we all make a pact?"

"That we all get pregnant at 16?" Miranda asked in a voice that mimicked that of a teenage girl. Everyone laughed.

"No," Arizona continued. "We make a pact to have a good time and get a little wild and have a lot of fun."